As you may (or may not) know, for the past year and a half I
have been a commuter. Living 45 minutes away from my workplace makes for a
tedious 90 minute daily commute. While much of this time is spent listening to
music or cursing at the other idiots on the road, it also allows me quite a bit
of time to think. Sometimes this thinking leads to
meditation, while other times it leads to a close inspection of my
surroundings, and still others a broad overview of my daily journey.

Two major revelations have come to me while driving, concerning
two different styles of driving. Each style is appropriate at different times
and weather conditions. First, a little background on the route which I take. I
drive from southern Brown County, Indiana through Nashville and into Bloomington
via two major state highways, 135 and 46.

These highways are both two lane roads, with few viable passing
zones. They wind up and over several large hills, and curve between the various
settlements along them. Driving on such hilly and windy roads can prove to be
difficult, with only adequate road maintenance and a large number of deer and
animals living in the woods alongside them and frequently crossing.

The Snake

And so the first driving idea came to me one chilly night, while
driving home in a long chain of vehicles. I began to visualize what our chain of
cars would look like from overhead, or from a distance. Thanks to one slow
driver and an absence of passing zones, the half-a-dozen cars driving around the
curves with equal spacing would resemble a giant headlight snake slithering
along the winding road.

This snake configuration also proves to be a very successful and
safe way of night driving. One car follows another at the maximum distance of
headlight effectiveness, illuminating as much of the road between it and the
next car while keeping a safe and manageable distance. The lead car in the
formation, or the "head" of the snake, uses its bright lights to create a
distinguishable leader. This driving formation also creates a certain safety
against animals such as deer. As far as an animal is concerned, there is an
unbroken train of light which it typically will want to avoid (or at least be
more inclined to avoid than a single set of headlights). This chain of light
also helps the driver spot potential suicidal deer much sooner than if he were
driving alone, by taking advantage of the headlights of the cars in front of
him.

Perhaps my favorite property of the snake driving formation is
the ease at which meditation comes while driving this way. Knowing the curves of
the road and being able to anticipate what is coming next, I am able to zone out
and focus on keeping myself a consistent distance away from the red taillights
in front of me, thinking about everything and nothing all at once.

The Buffer Zone

The other noteworthy concept that I have considered/developed
during my daily commute is one that I have termed the buffer zone. It takes its
name from the buffer we are all familiar with concerning internet videos. If you
do not start to load a video first, you will often play it faster than it loads,
creating unwanted pauses in the playback while the loading catches up. This same
idea applies to driving.

First, to understand the buffer zone and its justification, let
us consider the ever-rising costs of gas. This is another thought that
frequently crosses my mind, as I go through a full tank in a week or less. So, I
decided to try to maximize my gas mileage. To do this, one has to attempt two
different things: brake as seldom as possible, and keep the engine RPMs as low
as possible. I drive a manual transmission Toyota RAV4, so it is fairly easy for
me to kick the car out of gear and into neutral. This, of course, is the most
efficient way to lower the RPMs, short of turning the car off. In neutral, the
car idles at around 1000 RPMs. But putting the car into neutral only works when
going downhill. There are a lot of down-hills on the way to Bloomington, but
just as many up-hills. The most effective way of keeping engine RPMs low on
up-hills is of course to keep the car in the highest gear possible, or in my
case 5th gear.

So how does one accomplish the feat of coasting down hills in
neutral and flying up hills in 5th gear, without braking? The buffer zone. To
successfully use the buffer zone, you have to know the route you are driving
well and anticipate the hills in advance of coming to them. Usually I am stuck
behind at least one car, with the inability to pass. Thus, whenever I know I am
approaching a downhill, I intentionally slow down and either coast or lower my
RPMs by not accelerating as much. This allows the distance between the car in
front of me and my car to grow. Then, whenever I come to the hill, I let my car
coast down. By the time I reach the bottom of the hill, I am coasting so quick
that I am approaching the car in front of me. If I create the buffer zone
correctly, my coasting will slow to the speed of the car in front of me just
before I reach the car. Then I simply put the car back into 5th gear and drive
along the flat area. Similarly, whenever I know an uphill is coming, I again
slow down either by coasting or not accelerating as much, creating another
buffer zone between the car in front of me and myself. Just before I start to
climb the hill, I accelerate. If the buffer zone is large enough, I am able to
keep my car in 5th gear all the way up the hill without reaching the car in
front of me. By the time I reach the top, I am again behind the car, and moving
at the same speed.

Occasionally I will make the buffer zone too small and have to
down-shift or brake going uphill or downhill, but often times I can hit it
perfectly. The length of the hill and presence of sharp turns requires manual
adjustments to buffer zone driving, and it is different for every road. The
better you know the road, however, the more effectively you can drive using the
buffer zone. People who drive automatic transmissions will probably have a more
difficult time using the buffer zone on up-hills, although it is still
relatively easy to coast down hills without braking, if planned correctly. While
buffer zone driving, one must pay extra attention to hazards and other obstacles
in the road, as you are often driving slightly faster than the speed limit and
occasionally out of gear. It is a very safe method of driving if done correctly,
and maximizes the fuel efficiency of your vehicle in the most primitive way. The
only downfall of buffer zone driving is that it is much more difficult, and not
recommended, to meditate while doing.